


Han Solo Dead

by raptor_moon



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Death Fix, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-07-27 16:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20048962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raptor_moon/pseuds/raptor_moon
Summary: After a discussion over some comic books with his friend Ned, Peter has some questions.





	1. Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head?

Peter sighed, rubbing his face as he flung the comic book down. “I can’t believe they killed him off. We’ve been through almost a year of back issues and he hasn’t shown back up. Gone for five years and they ruined my favorite comic.” 

“Nope, I don’t believe it.” Ned argued. “There wasn’t a body. You are not dead in a comic book until they bury your body.”

Peter shook his head. “What if you are blown to bits, or dusted…”

“You’re not dead until you are Han Solo dead.” Ned stated with conviction.

“Han Solo dead?” Peter questioned.

“You know…stabbed through the heart, falls down a pit, planet blown up, dead.”

“Ok, well here is the next set.”

“It was great you could get all these back issues…”

“Actually, Mr. Stark bought them for me.” Peter rubbed his eyes trying to hold back the t ears that threatened to fall. “He found out that the author and artist had survived, but the comic book division was dropped by its parent company after the snap. Tony bought it up and reopened it; said people needed an escape while coping with the reality of rebuilding. He just asked them to save a copy of each issue for me.”

“That’s so cool.”

“Ms Pepper said he spent a lot of money re-investing in New York to aid recovery. He bought back the Tower to use as a base of operations after the company he sold it to abandoned their efforts in the city. He focused on getting people back to work, offering free job training to fill skilled job positions left empty from the snap.” 

“And how is living in the Tower?”

“I miss Queens. But after Mysterio leaked my identity, we had no choice. This way I know Aunt May will be safe.”

“Mrs. Potts-Stark’s solution was brilliant. Letting everyone know the truth that Mysterio was really just a disgruntled SI employee using stolen Chatauri and SI tech, and since he couldn’t attack the late Mr. Stark he went after his personal intern, by faking the images to make it ‘seem’ like you are spiderman.”

Peter fell silent as he thought of all the things Mr. Stark had done for him and all the trouble he had caused a grieving widow. He was startled back into the present by Ned gently kicking his foot to get his attention.

“Mom said it helps to talk about those we lost. I know you’ve heard that before with…with losing your parents and Uncle Ben. I know Mr. Stark wasn’t a relative, but…”

“It’s hard to believe he’s gone. He gave so much; he risked his life, his chance to watch his daughter grow up, just to bring us all back.” Peter thought about Morgan growing up without a father. Sure she would have Uncle Happy and Uncle Rhodey and Pepper said Tony told Morgan about her ‘older brother Peter’ but that wasn’t the same as a father.

“You never spoke about the funeral. I didn’t want to ask about then, but it’s been a few months now.” Ned looked at Peter as if he was asking permission. Peter sighed but nodded and then Ned’s questions flowed. “How was the funeral? Were all the superheroes there? Anyone famous, foreign dignataries? Was the casket red and gold? Who were the pallbearers? Or did it float on repulsors so no pall bearers were needed?” 

“Most of the superheroes were there. It was a simple ceremony. There was no casket. I guess it was kinda like a Viking funeral. They had an arc reactor on a floral wreath and floated it out onto the lake behind his house.”

“Why no casket? Are you sure he’s dead?”

“I watched him die!” Peter shouted. “I was there on the battlefield. I saw him use the gauntlet and the enemy turned to dust. Pep…Pepper told him he could rest, I heard FRIDAY say his lifesigns were fading, everyone kneeled in respect.”

“Then they rushed him to a hospital, confirmed no lifesigns?”

“No…I don’t know what they did after that. But I know he’s gone. This is real life, not a comic book.”

“I know Peter, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Ned consoled his friend as he picked up the next comic book in the series. “But it does make you wonder what happened to his body?”


	2. We'll just pass him there, Why should we even care?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned's question continues to nag Peter's thoughts, so he goes to find some answers.

Peter stood on the doorstep of the sanctum. He lifted his hand to knock on the door. Then lowered it and backed away. Dr. Strange was a busy man. Sure he had said that he could come to him if he needed anything. He had talked to him some after the snap, trying to adjust back to normal life after being gone for five years. But Strange was Sorcerer Supreme. He shouldn’t interrupt him with something as trivial as this.

But ever since Ned asked that question, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He turned back toward the door and raised his hand again to knock. Doctor Strange had been a medical doctor, he had to have dealt with death, so he would probably know what had happened to the body. But he had been dealing with everyone who had been portaled in for the fight, getting them all home. He probably hadn’t been involved, as he had only met Mr. Stark that fateful day they went to Titan. He turned away again. 

But Dr. Strange had looked at over 14 million futures and knew Mr. Stark had to make it to that final battle. Peter had figured out that was why Strange had given up the time stone. So he had to know, “Why was there no coffin at the funeral. Was Mr. Stark’s body too radioactive? Was it just to keep the final resting place a secret from those who would desecrate it?” He turned to knock once more and hesitated. His spider-senses were tingling. 

~~~

Inside the sanctum the cloak hovered at the doorway, waiting to open the door. It turned to its master in confusion. Why wouldn’t the boy just knock already? After the third hesitation, it was vibrating in frustration.

“Fine,” Dr. Strange huffed and opened a portal. 

~~~

Peter screamed as the ground opened up beneath him and shot two webs up towards the roofline. Suddenly he found himself dangling over a portal. 

Dr. Strange and the cloak stared at each other, as no one fell through the portal. The cloak zoomed to his side as Stephen walked under the portal and looked up.

“Mr. Parker, would you like to come in? or are you just ‘hanging around’ my neighborhood.”

“Oh, Dr. Strange. Hi, yeah, sure.” Peter released his webs and did an acrobatic flip to the floor.

They stared at each other for a moment and the Doctor sighed. ‘So what brings you here today?”

“Can’t I just want to visit?”

“You can, but I sense something is troubling you.”

“It’s a strange question.”

“Well, good thing you came to ask me then,” Stephen smirked.

“That’s not, I mean, I…” Peter deflated. He felt foolish.

“Peter?” Dr. Strange asked seriously.

Peter blurted out his concern rapidly, “So me and Ned were catching up on my favorite comic and they killed off the main character, but Ned said not to worry cause he wasn’t Han Solo dead and that got me wondering…”

“Han Solo Dead?” Trying to parse what the teen was going on about.

“You know…stabbed through the heart, falls down a pit, planet blown up, dead.”

“Ok, I think I missed that movie.”

“Oh, you need to see it. Wait, you haven’t seen all the Star Wars movies?”

“Only the original trilogy, Peter, but can we get to your point?”

“Right, you’re busy, sorry. In comics and movies if you don’t see the body then you don’t know if a character is truly dead. And Ned asked me about Mr. Stark’s funeral, the private one we went to at his house not the public memorial, but there was no casket there either and…”

“Peter, you know Mr. Stark is dead. We saw Tony use the stones and die on the battlefield.”

“I know that Dr. Strange.” Peter swallowed back tears that threaten to fall. “I just wondered what happened to his body. Why was there no casket or urn or whatever?”

Dr. Strange sighed. He had to admit he had wondered that himself, but as an adult, he knew it was impolite to ask that of grieving family members, and as a doctor he knew there were many reasons a family might choose not to have the body at any remembrances. But it was coming up on half a year since that battle, and Peter was obviously having trouble moving on. It wasn’t surprising; Tony had made quite the impression on the boy and was the third father figure he had lost in his young life. Perhaps now it would be appropriate to ask. He realized he didn’t even know who had signed off on the death certificate: Dr. Banner, Dr. Cho, Dr. Wu or someone who had been added to staff in the 5 years post snap. 

“I don’t know the answers to that, as I wasn’t involved. But perhaps we can get some answers to your questions at the Compound. Shall we visit Dr. Banner?”

Peter nodded and watched as Dr. Strange opened a portal before them.


	3. Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeking answers from Dr. Banner

They portaled into the compound in front of the doors to Dr. Banner’s lab, planning to knock, not wanting to surprise the man. The blended creature was much less susceptible to being startled then Dr. Banner had been, but it was still not a good idea to surprise a man who was part Hulk. Unfortunately, the man in question was exiting his lab and startled anyway, clutching his clipboard to his chest, it looked tiny in his huge hands.

“Dr. Strange, Peter, did I forget a meeting?”

“No, young Peter here had some questions that I could not answer for him.”

“Science questions?”

“No medical questions, about what happened to Mr. Stark’s body after the battlefield?”

“Oh…”

Peter looked at the floor. He was embarrassed, he knew these questions were invasive and wrong and it was not his place to ask, but…the fact that Dr. Strange hadn’t known either. He realized it had been silent for a long time and he looked up. “I realize it’s not my place to ask, I just…”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… complicated.”

“Complicated?” Strange and Peter asked simultaneously.

“His body was potentially radioactive, so I asked FRIDAY where I should move it so it could be safely taken care of and prepared for his funeral. She said it had all been arranged and that two suits would be arriving to retrieve the body.”

“Two Suits?”

“GRIM and REAPER” FRIDAY suddenly interjected. 

“GRIM REAPER?” Bruce shook his head. “Tony really should never be allowed to name things. FRIDAY, dare I ask what they stand for?”

“GRIM was designed to go into dangerous situations to rescue injured personnel. Boss had been watching _The Fifth Element_ when he named it GRIM - Gross Removal of Injured Meatsacks.”

Dr. Banner groaned and Dr. Strange shook his head. “And REAPER.”  
“REAPER was specifically designed to be used for Boss upon cessation of life to preserve his brain function. As the DEATH protocol had been activated, REAPER was sent.”

Banner sighed, “What does it stand for FRIDAY?”

“REAPER stands for Resuscitation, Encephalographic Assessment and Preparation for Engram Retrieval.”

Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow, “What exactly is the DEATH protocol?”

“Access to those files is restricted to primary users: Potts-Stark, Virginia and Rhodes, James.”

Peter sighed, “So at least I now know he had his own plans to remove his body. So its absence from the funeral was by his design.” 

“No, now we drop in on the lady in question.” Dr. Strange began to make a portal.

“No,” Peter grabbed his arm, “We shouldn’t disturb her for my silly questions.”

Bruce just reached for his jacket. “So she asked to talk to you as well?”

Dr. Strange nodded and completed the action, a portal opening unto the lawn in front of the lake house. Morgan could be seen blowing bubbles while Pepper sat on the porch.

The trio stepped through.


	4. Can he walk at all? Or if he moves will he fall?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talk with Pepper yields unexpected answers

“Peter!” Morgan screamed and ran towards Peter who was quick to catch her when she jumped into his arms. He gave her a big hug, twirling her around to make her giggle. “Will you blow bubbles with me?”

“Peter, would you mind?” Pepper asked. “I need to talk to Dr. Banner and Dr. Strange…” she tilted her head to one side. Peter understood the implied “without little ears listening.”

“Sure Mrs. Potts-Stark,” He took Morgan’s hand. “Let’s go blow some bubbles!”

Peter tried not to listen, but with his enhanced hearing, he could hear the conversation clearly above Morgan’s giggles and shrieks as she tried to pop or catch the bubbles Peter blew for her.

“Pepper, what has you so worked up. I haven’t seen you this worried since…” Bruce trailed off.

“Since the last time Tony did something stupid, life threatening, heroic…” Pepper huffed. “I know. And I worry sometimes Morgan is going to be so much like him. But I wasn’t expecting this.”

“What exactly is the problem?” Dr. Strange found himself falling back into the familiar questioning patter he had used with reluctant patients.

“Morgan had seemed to understand that her dad was gone and not coming back. Then about two weeks ago, she starting saying things that her dad said to her like “Dad doesn’t like cabbage in his salad either, but he says until I am all grown up I have to listen to Mommy.”

“She might just be recalling things Tony said, trying to keep her dad’s memory alive.” Bruce offered.

“But then she started to ask something technical and when I couldn’t answer instead of asking FRIDAY she said ‘I’ll ask dad in the lab tomorrow.’ And it’s happened more than once.”

Bruce and Stephen shared a look. Bruce took a breath. “Pepper, did Tony have specific plans for his body after his death?”

“Just to be cremated. He figured too many people would want to desecrate the Merchant of Death’s grave.”

“So you have his ashes,” Bruce confirmed.

“No, you said his body might be radioactive and FRIDAY refused to release it.” She glared at Bruce until she realized the implication of what she just said and gasped in shock, “Did we just abandon his body…is it just decaying… somewhere?”

Peter turned towards them in horror, not caring if they noticed he was listening. Morgan noticed he was paying attention to the adults instead of her and began to move towards them to see what was going on. Peter was too stunned to notice.

“I don’t believe so,” Dr. Strange began, “He had created specialized suits to remove his body and maintain life support while he did…something.”

“Did what?” Pepper shook her head, wondering what final crazy scheme Tony had had.

“Well, what is the DEATH protocol?” Bruce asked.

“FRIDAY? What does the D-E-A-T-H protocol stand for?”

“Could you proceed to Boss’ lab? I can explain it better there.”

“FRIDAY,” Pepper started to protest, but Morgan spoke up, “FRIDAY, is it time tell mommy our secret?”

“Yes, Miss.” FRIDAY replied.

“Miss?” Peter smiled, picking Morgan up. He wondered why FRIDAY didn’t just call her Morgan.

“Yes,” she declared with a smile. “Daddy told FRIDAY to call me that, it means Morgan Is Super Special.”

“You certainly are.” Peter said as they reached the lab. Morgan put her hand on the scanner and the door opened. The lab was not the silent, dust filled room he had imagined. Computer consoles hummed and the bots rushed forward to greet them. The only thing missing was Tony in the midst of it all.

“Ok FRIDAY, we are here, so spill.” Pepper still was amazed at the AI some days, as it was obvious from the personality that she was also Tony’s child.

“D-E-A-T-H stands for Download Engrams for Augmented Tony Hologram.” A hologram sprung to life in the middle of the room. It was Mr. Stark.


	5. He was turned to steel In the great magnetic field

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A miscalculation leads to a surprising revelation.

Pepper gasped and sat down heavily in a chair. “You made yourself into a hologram.”

“Technically, I am now a learning AI but starting with all the memories and knowledge of Tony Stark. The hologram was for Morgan. Peter once told me how hard it was to remember his parents since they died when he was young. He had pictures, but remembering their voices and mannerisms was hard. This way she has something a little more tangible to remember her dad. Pepper, while Tony hoped that I could continue working to bring some of his plans and designs to completion and continue to help you and SI, he really was just trying to find a way to be here for Morgan if the worst happened. He felt guilty saying no to trying to bring back the Snapped, but he was filled with dread, sure it would cost him his happy ending with you and Morgan.”

“And he was right…” Dr. Strange spoke sadly, overwhelmed with guilt.

Bruce had been lost in thought through the previous conversation, “So how long did data retrieval take and where was his body stored during this process?”

“I came online as soon as the process was completed.” The hologram stated calmly. 

Morgan piped up, “Daddy got his glowy ghost body about two weeks ago.”

“Glowy ghost body?” Strange asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Peter looked at the ground sheepishly. “Morgan and I watched the original Star Wars trilogy when I was over a few weeks ago.”

“So data extraction took about 4 months and…” Dr. Banner paused waiting for FRIDAY to answer.

“Boss’ body was stored in a modified Cradle hooked up to RIMMER, the Remote Interface for Massive Memory Engram Retrival.”

“A Red Dwarf reference?” Dr. Strange shook his head. He really wished he had gotten the chance to know Dr. Stark through more than looking at 14 million futures.

“So life support ceased two weeks ago and his body is in stasis in the Cradle ready to be cremated.” Bruce turned to Pepper. “Do you want to see him before…”

“Dr. Banner, Boss didn’t anticipate the unique circumstances surrounding his death.”

“What unique circumstances?” 

“The Gamma radiation burst from the gauntlet reactivated the inactive extremis in his system left from the arc reactor extraction surgery. The blast pushed some nanites into his body and bloodstream and triggered their repair cycle, add to that the unknown measures taken by Nebula and Captain Marvel to keep Boss alive after Titan…”

“FRIDAY, what are you trying to say?”

“When I stopped active life support I found that Boss’ heart was beating and he was breathing on his own.”

“Tony’s alive?” Pepper felt her head swim in shock, if she hadn’t already been seated she would have passed out. Peter grabbed a glass a filled it with water, bringing it over.

“But Mr. Stark had fatal injuries, didn’t he?” Peter asked, daring to hope.

“The Cradle has healing properties, but this is beyond what it is designed to do…” Banner began.

“If you were maintaining life support solely to maintain brain function for memory engram retrieval, how intact were the engrams, is the EEG normal?” Dr. Strange had to ask.

“Brain scans are similar to scans taken during initial calibration of RIMMER.” FRIDAY responded.

Stephen sighed in relief. No apparent brain damage. 

“And his other injuries?” Banner wondered aloud. “If you focused on maintaining brain function more nanites would have been focused there…”

“There was severe scarring on his right side. Damage in the right arm was so severe that to prevent necrosis from spreading the limb was removed above the elbow. I would not have done that without permission from his medical proxy, but as he was assumed dead, I did not deem it necessary.” FRIDAY explained in detail, seeming to try and justify her actions. “Your assumption is correct, Dr. Banner. To protect the brain, more healing nanites were originally sent to his head, resulting in less scarring of his face. When life support was removed and he was found to be alive, energy was then focused towards healing the rest of his body as much as possible.” 

“FRIDAY, just when were you planning on telling me this?” Pepper couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice.

The Tony AI spoke up. “Tony’s body needs another week or two in the Cradle. We have been keeping him in a medically induced coma for now and had planned to let you get used to my presence before trying to explain our little miscalculation.”

“Miscalculation!” Pepper screeched, “You failed to tell me my husband was still alive for over 4 months, that’s one hell of a miscalculation.”

“But we’ve only known that for the last two weeks. Pep, I…” Pepper glared at the AI. “Tony was not even conscious for half of what Nebula and Captain Marvel did to sustain his life when he was stuck in space, fighting an unknown infection from injuries sustained in his first fight with Thanos. We never anticipated changes made from Extremis over a decade ago and that fight 5 years ago could possibly help him heal from the damage wielding the infinity stones wrought.” 

As always, Tony's argument was annoying reasonable and well thought out, even as an AI. “So what is the plan now?” 

“Call Dr. Cho and Dr. Wu. Get the data from Princess Shuri on Barnes’ neural interface and begin working on a prosthetic arm based on plans in Boss’ database.” FRIDAY responded. “If that’s ok with you.”

“That sounds good.” Pepper responded, shakily standing up.

“In the meantime, I think we would like to check on Tony for ourselves.” Dr. Strange added, looking to Dr. Banner for approval. He nodded from where he was supporting Pepper. “FRIDAY, can you show me where he is?” An image of a dimly lit lab dominated by a modified Cradle with several robot arms and medical bots standing silently in the room was projected onto the wall. Stephen opened a portal and the five stepped through.


End file.
